Why Me?
by Jaheira1000
Summary: What happens when a certain blader gets turned into a girl? What happens when she finds out it's permanent? What happens when she falls for one of her teammates? RayxKai. There made be a YAOI side pairing. Chapter 10 up now!
1. Chapter 1: A Grudge

**WHY ME?**

Jaheira1000: Hi everybody. I'm back! This is my second fic, and I don't know where it came from. It just started flowing, but I can see this is gonna be a relatively long story. I'm still currently working on my other story "Caught Between Light and Darkness" Which is also a Kai based story.

P.S. I don't own beyblade, only my story and OC's. (Almost forgot the disclaimer) :P

**CHAPTER ONE: A Grudge**

It was just another beautifully sunny day in Japan. The world beyblading competition held in Russia was finally over, as were the Blade-breakers problems with Boris and Biovolt. After the world championships the bladers all went to Japan. Max, Tyson and Kenny were living there anyway. Since Kai's grandfather had gone to prison, he was staying in the mansion that his family owned there. He did however, need a new guardian, and Mr Dickenson had kindly stepped into that role. Ray needed a place to stay, so Kai had offered him a suite of rooms at the mansion. There was more than enough space for him there. Unfortunately, this also meant that the rest of the Breakers viewed it as a free walk-in hotel. They spent more time at Kai's place than at their respective homes. Even though Kai had opened up more to his team, he was still a loner. This meant that he found the situation unbearable at times. Another unfortunate situation was that Mr D had enrolled both Kai and Ray in the same school that the others attended. Twenty-four hours a day of Tyson and Max was enough to send him over the edge. To escape from the monotony of this, he often took solitary walks. One of his favourite spots was a beautiful lake on his estate, which the others hadn't discovered yet. Little did he know that he was often followed when he went for walks. The ones watching him, held a grudge. He was the reason that the Breakers always defeated them. They were the Dark Bladers! Today, Kai went for a walk so that he could relax, but he wasn't able to calm down. After a while he decided to go to his lake. Once he arrived there, he stretched out on the grass to relax. After a while, he fell asleep. When Kai awoke, night had fallen. As he looked up at the sky, he saw lightning flash, and decided to get going. As he turned away from the lake he gasped. Standing before him, were the Dark Bladers! As he watched they started to chant. He backed away from them up to the edge of the lake. This was a mistake. As he reached the edge, a sharp wind picked up causing large waves in the lake. One of these swept him beneath the surface. As the Dark Bladers finished chanting their spell, something unexpected happened. While submerged, Kai was struck by the spell as well as a bolt of lightning simultaneously. The Dark Bladers looked at each other. They didn't know what effect the combination of the lakes water, lightning and spell would have, but they hoped it would be unpleasant. They had been trying to distort his spirit. Kai managed to drag himself out of the water before passing out on the bank.

As Kai stirred, he could hear voices. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't know, looks bad though."

"I wonder if we should…" The voices trailed off when they saw the person stirring. Kai opened his eyes to find himself staring at a complete stranger. He blinked a few times before sitting up. His chest felt very heavy. 'Probably swallowed a lot of water.' He thought to himself. He looked around to find the stranger who he had seen first and somebody who looked like his wife. "Where am I?" He asked in a squeaky voice. His voice surprised him, but he supposed it was just from the ordeal he had been through. His voice was probably just hoarse or something. As he took stock of his surroundings, he realised that he was in a house. The elderly man who had been standing over him said, "Well, I found you on the edge of the lake while I was on my way home. I had been looking for firewood when I got lost. It's a good thing I found you though. It looked like you had fallen into the lake." As the old man finished his narration he smiled in a friendly manner. Standing up, Kai muttered a "Thanks", before walking to the door. "Where are you going?" The woman asked. "Home." And with that, Kai started making his way out of the forest. As he walked, he realised that his clothes were very loose on his frame. The water was probably weighing it down. Oh well. He would just have to change. On his way home, Kai decided that he didn't want to be seen by anybody. He had secrets passages in the mansion that he had discovered as a child. So it was that he made his way upstairs unseen. When he reached his room, he didn't bother to look in the mirror but went straight to his closet. He had such a headache, that he was barely paying attention to anything. He didn't want to ask any of the staff for medicine, because then they would make a fuss. As he absently pulled on some old dry clothes, he once again made his way along the secret passage. He needed some alone time. At least until his voice was normal. Tyson would never let him live it down. As he strolled through the town, he noticed that a lot of people were staring at him. He was of course used to this by now, but there was something about the stares he was getting. As he made his way into the park, a group of boys waylaid him. "Hello there beautiful." The obvious leader smirked. Kai was slightly shocked by this but thought to himself, 'Geez, gay much?' Looking at the jerk who was looking him over in a suggestive manner, Kai said, "Sorry, I'm really not interested." The others in the group snickered. "And who says we're giving you a choice?" Kai looked at the group thoughtfully. He wasn't one to boast of his accomplishments, but he was rather muscular looking. Especially in comparison to these guys. Did they really think he was a push-over? As the 'leader' approached him Kai swung into action. He grabbed the punks arm and, swinging the dork over his shoulder, slammed him into the ground. The rest of the group backed away and Kai walked on smirking. Seeing how full the park was, he decided against it and turned to leave. As he walked by, the thugs practically fell over one another trying to run away. As Kai kept on walking, he got the feeling that something was incredibly wrong. Everywhere he went, guys stopped to stare at him. He even attracted a bunch of catcalls and wolf-whistles. Wondering whether the whole city had gone mad, he made his way home. He used his house key so that he didn't have to wait for somebody to open the door. On entering the house he was shocked. It was chaos everywhere. Walking up to Alfred the butler he squeaked, "What's going on here?". Alfred whipped around, stared for a moment then barked, "Who do you think you are?" Kai stepped back in surprise. The other Breakers came running at the sound of Alfred's heated exclamation. As they screeched to a halt they stared at Kai as if they were in a trance. 'Oh great, not them too.' Kai thought to himself. He glared at the Breakers and barked out, "What are you staring at?" Alfred came up to Kai and gripped his arm tightly. "Don't talk to master Kai's friends like that! You're the intruder here, so explain yourself or leave." Ok, if this was somebody's idea of a sick joke, he had had enough. Crossing his arms over his chest, he was about to speak when he realised that something was wrong. He knew that he was muscular, but his chest had never been THAT big. Looking down he poked his chest. He saw an indent where his finger was. Suddenly he had a horrible suspicion. Lifting his other hand, he poked the other side of his chest. There was another indent. Swallowing hard he turned slowly towards one of the large mirrors in the entrance. What he saw reflected there made him pass right out.

Tyson felt like he was dreaming. There was a drop-dead gorgeous chick standing in the entrance of Kai's house, acting as if it was her own home. She had the most stunning figure imaginable, nice long legs, a beautiful heart-shaped face, Crimson eyes, and two-toned hair. Frowning slightly, he realised that she looked like a female version of Kai. Her hair came to her knees, and she was wearing clothes very similar to those that Kai usually wore. As he watched the girl poking her chest, he wondered what she was doing. As she turned slowly towards a mirror he thought he caught a glimpse of fear in her eyes. Then as she collapsed on the floor in a dead faint, all the Breakers rushed forward. They all stared at her as if they still couldn't believe that she was real.

Max, just as dumb struck, followed as Alfred picked up the now unconscious girl and placed her on one of the sofas. He couldn't wait for her to wake up again. He wondered what her name was. He had never seen a girl quite like her before. She reminded him somewhat of their team captain Kai. She had the same hair and eyes. Max moved closer to the sofa as she started to stir.

Ray was just as disbelieving as the others. He watched as the girl slowly stirred and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, before sitting up fast. He moved closer to try and help her, but noticed that both Tyson and Max had had the same thought. She was a beautiful girl, so he was sure that they were having all kinds of thoughts. But not him. No. Really.

'Please let it all be a dream. When I wake up, I'm going to be in my bed, as myself. I am NOT a girl!' As Kai opened his eyes, he groaned. He was lying on a sofa in the living room of his mansion. If the look on Alfred's face didn't tell him the awful truth, the looks on the faces of his team-mates did. He was still a girl. As he blinked a few times Alfred came towards him with a frowning look. Kai forestalled him with one sentence. "When the Phoenix dies, it will rise again from the ashes to rule again. He will not look the same, but it is still the mighty one." Kai thought about the irony of that sentence as Alfred stood still as a statue. A look of horror came across his face as he realised what this meant. It was a code that he and his master had developed when Kai was still a child. They had pretended that he was impersonated by an evil person and would have to memorise that sentence to show that he was the real one. That meant… Kai nodded grimly at Alfred. "What happened?" He asked, still slightly in shock. The Breakers were looking confused by what was passing between the two. He gave Alfred a short run-down of what had occurred at the lake. Ending with, "…and when I woke up, I was like this." The Breakers were looking confused. Did Alfred know this girl? Tyson stepped forward. "I think it's time for introductions. My name is…"

"Tyson." She interrupted. "Yeah and I'm…"

"Max." She said again. "And that one is Ray. I already know you and you already know me." The Breakers looked at each other, all thinking the same thing. If they knew her, they would definitely have remembered her. "Do we know her Alfred?" Tyson asked bluntly. The servant nodded and said, after seeing a discreet nod from Kai, "That, is Master Kai."

Jaheira1000: So, what do you think? Please remember to review, it's what I live for!

Kai: You're so pathetic!

Jaheira1000:Runs after Kai with a kitchen knife

(What's he doing there anyway?) :P


	2. Chapter 2: It's What?

Jaheira1000: Here we go people! Chapter two is up and running! Let me know what

you think!

Kai: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Why do - I – have to be the girl? Sobs

Jaheira1000:Pats Kai on the back There there, it's not that bad is it?

Kai: Oo. She can't possibly own me or beyblade!

Jaheira1000: How right you are Kai! On with the story!

DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE

**CHAPTER TWO: IT'S WHAT?**

Kai stared in shock as all three of his team-mates lay out cold on the floor. Compared to them, he had taken the news well. He sighed and motioned for the servants to pick up the three limp forms. As she watched they were placed on the couches, she watched, and waited for them to wake up…

As the three boys stirred and woke up, they still couldn't believe what they had heard. Their cold-hearted, macho captain was a girl! Looking around, they saw their now-female captain looking at them. "Why'd you have to go and faint?" She asked coldly. "I think that I'm the only one entitled to have a problem with this." Looking at each other, the three boys admitted that she had a point. Sitting up, Tyson said, "I think we should go and talk to Mr D, after all, he is Kai's guardian." The others just nodded. They had one heck of a problem on their hands.

So it was that three amused boys, and one really annoyed girl sat before Mr Dickenson. They had called him, and set up an appointment. As he looked at the team he said, "Well boy's, and err, girls…" Snickering at this, "…I must admit that magic and curses are a bit beyond me, but I have heard about this happening once before. Only in that case it was a girl turned into a boy. If it is indeed what I think it is, then there is no way to cure it." As Mr D's words sunk in, Kai turned pale. "Are you telling me that I'm stuck this way?" Mr D looked uncomfortable. "Well, I'm not sure Kai." As he spoke there was a puff of smoke, and to the astonishment of the bladers, there stood the Dark Bladers. "You!" Kai was very upset to see them. Ray, Max and Tyson all grabbed hold of her, to prevent any injury. The leader of the Dark Bladers stepped forward and said, "I'm afraid that won't be possible. There were some things that went wrong with our spell. First of all, we were attempting to distort his spirit, but the water divided the spell and changed it, so it altered his body instead. The second problem was the lightning. It gave extra strength to the spell, making it permanent." There was a silence thick enough to be chewed. "Why did you do this to me?"

"We hadn't meant to change you permanently. We only wanted to punish you because you caused our downfall more than once. You prevented us from regaining our normal bodies. We didn't want to harm you permanently though since a stronger spell would have killed us. Our magic is not the strongest around, but thanks to the combination of events, that spell is." On these dreadful words, they disappeared. Kai was not having a good day.

For the next two days, Kai refused to leave her room. She was never going to be a guy again. She was stuck like this until the day she died. Finally, the pleas of her friends and servants persuaded her to leave the sanctuary of her room. They had sent word to all their different friends. The All Starz, the White Tigers and even the Demolition Boys. The Breakers would be travelling to America to meet them all there. There was a beyblading tournament happening there anyway. Mr D had had the idea of introducing her as the long lost twin of Kai Hiwatari. Kai would seem to go into retirement, and pass his blade on to his twin sister. The same story would apply to the school. Only Kai would be transferring to another school, and his sister would take over. It was all very confusing for her, and she still needed a new name. It would be very suspicious if she had the same name as her brother. The others couldn't stop arguing about what to call her. They even argued on the plane to America. Once they reached their designated hotel, they set off towards the lobby where Mr D had asked everybody to gather. Kai was still waiting to be assigned a room. Since he was no longer a guy, he couldn't share with his team anymore. That at least was an improvement…or so he had thought. He had been wearing a cloak to hide him from view, and the other teams were practically dying of curiosity to see what he looked like. He was still of course, wearing his customary slacks and tight shirt, since he didn't have anything else, and he absolutely refused to wear a dress just yet, so he couldn't borrow from any of the staff. All they had was dresses. Kai was wondering how to get out of revealing herself to the open curiosity of the other teams. The Breakers decided to take pity on her, and led all the teams upstairs to the rooms before trying to convince her to remove the cloak. Eventually, it took the combined efforts of all the Breakers to get the cloak off. As Kai stood there fidgeting the other teams just stared in silence. They hadn't really believed what they had been told until they actually saw it. They all just stood and gaped while Kai stood blushing. "Would you stop staring already!" She snapped, seeing the now-familiar look in the boys' eyes. She was getting really irritated at this point. She was getting more attention as a girl than she did when she was a guy. And attention was one thing she hated. As everybody mentally shook themselves Max spoke up, "We still need to decide on a new name for her." Everybody started speaking at the same time until Kai whistled loudly. Everybody looked at her expectantly. "Why don't we each just suggest a name and then we could vote? Or to make it even easier, why don't I just draw the name out of a hat?" Everybody agreed and Tyson sprinted to get a hat. Each of the bladers wrote a name on a piece of paper before folding it and throwing it in. Shaking the bag, Tyson held it out to Kai who grabbed one randomly. Max took it from her and read clearly, "Kia!" Everybody grinned nodding. It was perfect. It was close to her old name, and it kind of suited her. "Now that that's decided, lets all go shopping!" Everybody turned to stare at Mariah. "Well, Kia needs new clothes. No offence, but you can't dress like a guy anymore. It just doesn't look right." Kia shook her head slowly. No way was she going to do this, but for once nobody was arguing. "First things first, we need to get you out of those clothes and into something decent for town." On these words Kia's new room-mates, Mariah and Emily proceeded to drag Kia to their room…

Jaheira1000: There we go people! It's not really that long, but I hope you enjoyed.

Kia: You just like making me suffer!

Jaheira1000: What can I say, it's a gift.

Kia: OO

Jaheira1000: If you wanna see what happens next, please review!


	3. Chapter 3: The Differences

Jaheira1000: Well I hope you're all happy, I got absolutely no sleep last night, and it's all because of this fic!

Silverdranzer: Glad to see you enjoying the fic!

Miako6: Nice to see you again.

Black-dranzer-1119: Thanx! I was a bit nervous about trying something like this!

Shin Rigel: First of all, sorry 'bout the spelling, I spent all night finishing this, so when I posted it I was kinda fuzzed. I agree that Rei is not a girl, which is why I made KAI the girl. I just thought it would be interesting to portray Kai's point of view as he adjusts to his new way of life. It's just something I felt like doing, but I respect your opinion. Hope you find some good fics.

Miako6: I think I'll keep him as a chick, but I am considering adding some Tala and Kia later.

Eagletalon: You read my mind!

Hoshicat: I know, I'm so evil! That's actually why I started writing this fic. I think it's time for me to put in a few hints of ReixKia. :) (You'll find some in chapter four!)

Pheonix's Fire: Glad you're enjoying yourself!

DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE!

**CHAPTER THREE: THE DIFFERENCES**

Two hours later, the boys' were bored out of their skulls. What could be taking them so long anyways? All they had to do was grab some clothes, have her put them on and they were done. Little did the boys know. The girls were giving Kia a crash course on what colours suited her, how to wear make-up, and all the other things that made a girl feminine. Kia obviously, was not very co-operative, until the other girls threatened to deck her out in all pink. They had some trouble with the clothes sizes since Kia was better endowed than even Mariah. Not to mention the fact that she was taller than both, even though she was much shorter than when she was a guy. Finally, after another few hours, Emily and Mariah came back smiling. Behind them was a totally transformed Kia. She was wearing a black tank top, a blue mini-skirt, which showed her perfectly shaped legs off to perfection, and matching knee-length boots with slightly high heels. Her face was skilfully made-up and her hair hung loose. Her hair was exactly the same colour and style in the front as when she was a boy, but the dark tresses at the back reached her knees. The other two girls nodded their heads, satisfied with their labours. They looked at the guys and rolled their eyes. Every guy in the room was practically drooling. Kia herself was red in the face and demanded to know when they would be leaving. The guys practically fell over each other to open the door for her. She too rolled her eyes and exited through the door.

When they finally made it downstairs, Mr D was waiting for them. He smiled at their surprise. They explained what had taken so long and told him Kai's new name. "I thought you might need a few new things Kia, so I ordered two cars to take you shopping. Looking at the guys, all three girls sweat-dropped. They were playing rock-paper-scissors. "What are they doing?" Kia asked nervously. "They're deciding who gets to ride in the same car as you." Emily stated blandly. "Huh, why would they do that?" Kia was truly confused. "Because, they all like you silly." Mariah laughed as Kia went pale. Who knew that being a girl would be so much stress?

They were finally on their way. Ray, Tyson, Michael, Lee, Tala, Bryan, Mariah, Emily and Kia had ended up in one car while Max, Kenny, Steve, Eddy, Kevin, Gary, Spencer and Ian had ended up in the other. Much to the boys' disgust, Mariah and Emily sat either side of Kia. Their first stop was a boutique whose name Kia would never be able to pronounce. They fitted shoes, gloves, skirts, dresses (much to Kia's disgust), jewellery, and much much more. It was a good thing Mr D had remembered to make the Hiwatari account available for her. Kia was one of the richest teens in the world, but it didn't mean anything if she couldn't access the money. At midday, they went to a café for lunch. All the way Kia noticed the attention she was getting from guys. Sighing she seated herself next to Ray and Michael. She was quite happy there since Ray was the only Breaker who she could tolerate for more than a few hours at a time, but Michael kept trying to start boring conversations, and trying to feed her. Standing up, she proved to everybody just how much like the old Kai she was by stalking out of the shop. Mariah said, "No matter what she looks like, she still has Kai's temperament." Everybody nodded. It was strange, by putting a guy into a girl's body; they had created a whole new person. Kia looked soft and vulnerable, while Kai had been strong and impenetrable. She might have the same look in her eyes, or the same way of excluding herself from things, but she looked different. Emily echoed what everybody was thinking, "Maybe we finally started seeing who she really was when she turned into a girl." Standing as one, the bladers all went to look for her, using Dizzy to track her.

Kia meanwhile, was walking off her temper in the usual way by wandering around aimlessly. There was one thing she hadn't taken into account though. When she was a guy, she had looked slightly threatening, allowing her to go anywhere without being accosted. Now however, she was a beautifully shaped girl. Anybody who looked at her would have thought she merely looked a little lost. She was therefore unprepared for what happened. Two muscular arms wrapped around her waist from behind, pulling her closer to the owner. "Hello there, cutie." A voice purred from behind her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm holding the sweetest thing to come my way in a while."

"I'm not sweet, I'm exceedingly bitter."

"Well, let's put that to the test."

"Let's not." Pulling loose of those arms on these words, she whirled around to plant a round-house kick on the side of his head. Her foot hit its mark and the man sprawled on the ground. She would have had problems with this guy even if she herself had still been a guy, but now that she wasn't, she thought it would be prudent to run. Even though she was much stronger than a normal girl, she was no match for a guy like that anymore. She was just lucky that she had caught him by surprise. One thing that was better however, was her mobility. She had lost strength, but gained speed and manoeuvrability. As she started running, she knew she would need all the help she could get.

Jaheira1000: There you go people. I would love for you to show your appreciation by reviewing. (Especially considering that I haven't had a decent nights sleep in about a week 'cause I keep updating late at night when I should be sleeping)

Rei: That's so sweet. You're kinda cute! winks

Kia: HEY! Don't go flirting with other people already! We haven't even gotten together yet and you're already cheating!

Rei: Well, since were not an item yet, it technically isn't cheating!

Kia:OO Runs out of the room crying

Everybody: --

Rei: What? I was just kidding.


	4. Chapter 4: Denial

Jaheira1000: Sorry it took so long guys! I was in a bit of a car accident on Friday, and my back is killing me. On the up-side, it gave me a lot of time to work on my fics while I was hurt. Oh well, on with the fic!

DISCLAIMER: It's not mine! sobs

**CHAPTER FOUR: DENIAL **

The other bladers were making their way through alleys when suddenly Dizzy piped up, "Guys, I think there's a problem. Kia seems to be moving much faster. If I didn't know any better I would say she's being chased." Ray paled quite suddenly, "Of course!" Everybody stared at him. "We have to remember guys, that Kia is not a guy anymore. She can't just take off by herself. What she did now was the equivalent of Mariah running off into a dark alley. Chances are, she didn't think of it like that and got herself into trouble. She's still not used to the fact that she's a girl now." As he watched his words sink in, Ray noticed the others turn equally pale. They started running…

Kia looked behind her and cursed silently. That jerk was still on her tail. Taking a sharp turn quickly she sprinted down an alley, only to find herself at a dead end. 'Time to find out just how flexible I really am.' She thought, eyeing the steel bars that ran from her end of the brick wall until the other. Thanking heaven that her skirt was fashioned like shorts, she took a run-up and kicked of the wall grabbing onto the first pipe. She just managed to reach it. Looking down she realised that she would have to hurry. Swinging her legs, she gained momentum before releasing the bar and catching hold of the next one. If she got out of this alive, she would have to try out for the gymnastics team, she thought grimly. As she reached the last bar she felt her grip slipping. At least she was over the wall, but, looking down, she saw it was a very long drop…

The three blading teams were racing along according to Dizzy's instructions. As they came to the last turn, they were amazed to see Kia swinging from bar to bar with a grim look on her face. Ray, who was right in front, felt his eyes widen in horror as he saw her lose her grip. She was slipping! Rushing forward, he left the others in his dust…

Feeling her fingers slipping, Kia tried to get a firmer grip on the pole, but only succeeded in slipping further. She thought she heard somebody call her name in the distance. Before she could look to see who it was, she lost her grip completely. Kia felt herself fall… then suddenly. "Oof." Blinking a few times, she tried to take stock of what had just happened. She looked up to find Ray smiling at her. "Gotcha!" He cried triumphantly. "Wha…" To say that she was confused was an understatement. Ray explained, "We followed you after you left the café, when we found you, we saw that you were falling and…um…" he broke off the explanation going slightly red. Kia realised for the first time that Ray was holding her tightly in his arms. Mariah took pity on him and finished his sentence, "Ray caught you just before you hit the ground. Kia looked at Ray in surprise and thanked him quietly. He put her down, and she was surprised to find that she didn't want him to. 'What am I thinking?' Kia scolded herself. Folding her arms, she once more assumed her mask of indifference. This didn't surprise anybody. Kia hated being seen as weak, but she was gonna have to live with it since she wasn't a guy anymore. She would have to learn to accept her new way of life.

Ray was still blushing even after putting Kia down. He had enjoyed holding her just a little too much. Sighing, he tuned back into the conversation…

Kia was wondering what had happened to the loser chasing her when, with a earth shattering howl, he came flying over the wall to land in the middle of a very disgruntled mob of bladers. Giving a chocked exclamation, she ran to hide behind Ray. She did NOT feel like going through THAT again. Blushing furiously, Ray asked, "Um, Kia? What are you doing?" Kia looked up at him with puppy dog eyes, "That's the guy that was chasing me. Do you think I try gymnastics over the streets for fun or something?" Looking from Kia to the intruder, Ray started feeling murderous. How dare that tramp try and attack HIS Kia! Wait a minute… his Kia? Where had that come from? 'Oh great work Ray, are you falling for your chick turned captain now. Have some pride man!' He told himself with a grimace. 'Well, she IS a chick now, so technically it's ok. That DOES make it ok doesn't it?' He argued with himself. 'Stop trying to talk yourself into it man. It's not as if she'll ever like YOU that way. She's still thinking of herself as a guy for goodness sake!' Sighing, Ray gave up the mental battle. He would just have to cross that bridge IF he got to it. Jeez, this type of thing could really mess with a guys head. After this furious inner battle, he decided to blame his murderous impulses on the fact that the guy had attacked an innocent girl. Stepping forward, he and the others 'persuaded' the jerk, to leave them and all other innocents alone in future.

Jaheira1000: This chapter was basically to establish the relationship between Ray and Kia.

Kia: Have mercy on her and review please, cause she was in a lot of pain while doing this chapter!

Jaheira1000: Being a girl made you so sweet!

Kia: Huffs while blushing


	5. Chapter 5: Mixed Feelings

Jaheira1000: Here it is people, an especially long chapters. Sorry it took so long, but I got sick and my back is still killing me. I would also like to thank all my reviewers, you keep me going!

DISCLAIMER: It's not mine!

CHAPTER FIVE: MIXED FEELINGS

It was now three days after that incident and Kia was still no nearer to feeling like a real girl than she had been then. She had very bad accidents every time she wore heels, ate even less than she used to, and still blushed furiously every time Mariah and Emily begged her to bath with them. The hotel where they were staying was incidentally Japanese style with the big outdoor baths. As she was still very embarrassed about certain parts of being a girl, she refused to go anywhere near the baths when there was somebody inside. This meant that she sometimes had to stay up very late to have a bath. The others could understand her feelings about this, and they didn't pressure her. It was a very hot day and after some discussion it was decided that they should go for a swim in the hotels huge outdoor pool. Even Kia liked the idea, until she saw IT. She was forcibly restrained by her room-mates. After about an hour's persuasion, she agreed to wear IT. When she came out of the stall however, she had but on shorts and a top over the bathing costume. Sighing, the two girls dragged the reluctant beauty outside. They all settled on chairs to await the guys who had been delayed. A few minutes later, they arrived, all looking very hot in their swimming shorts. Especially Ray. Hold on. HOT! Did she really think that? What was wrong with her? Shaking herself out of her daze, she tuned back into the conversation, in time to hear Mariah complaining to Lee that Kia refused to show off her swim-suit. And it was new too! Sliding down further on her chair, she folded her arms, daring somebody to try and move her. The guys crowded her, trying to persuade her to reveal her swim-suit. She remained adamant. Emily had an idea and whispered something to Michael. He nodded and passed along the message until everybody was filled. Kia was filled with a sense of foreboding. The others were having a pow-wow session, and she did NOT like the looks they were shooting her. She couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Come on guys, why me?" Ray asked the other, smirking bladers. "You're the one with the highest chance of survival." Mariah pointed out. "Yeah Ray, even before she became a girl, you were the one she got along with the best." He couldn't argue about that. He was the only one Kai used to tolerate. Now that she was a girl, that didn't change. 'Please don't let her hate me for this.' He prayed. Now that their meeting was over, Emily leaned over to tell Ray what he had to say. Paling slightly he looked at Emily. So THAT was Kia's secret. No wonder Emily didn't want to tell anybody else. She had told them only that she had a way to persuade Kia to go along with them. He walked up to her, and she cracked open an eye. Grimacing slightly he bent and whispered something to her. They saw her face go red then white. Holding their breath they waited for her reaction. Finally, she nodded. They started breathing again. Kia stalked back to the changing rooms. When she came back out, she was wearing nothing but a light pink bikini, which displayed her charms to perfection, but still leaving something to the imagination. Catcalls and whistles followed her blushing progress. "Happy now?" She snapped at the others. Silently they nodded. And they had thought she couldn't look any better. Without a backwards glance, she stalked off towards the pool deciding to try the diving board. Once she was positioned on the end, she raised her arms with the ease of experience. She jumped gaining momentum, and did a triple-flip dive into the pool. There was an awed silence around the pool, and when she surfaced, applause broke out. Ignoring the spectators, she started swimming lengths, trying to rid herself of her excess energy.

Watching Kia raise her arms over her head, Ray gulped. Her posture showed her perfectly shaped body to perfection. As she dove in he breathed again. He was starting to have too much interest in his lady captain. For goodness sake, he couldn't even stop staring at her. His thoughts trailed off as she hauled herself out of the water. She had completed about fifty laps in the Olympic sized pool without wearing herself out. As she made her way towards one of the chairs placed around the pool he thought about the threat they were forced to use. Emily had found out that Kia kept a diary, and had done so even before she turned into a girl. The threat was that they would reveal not only the existence of the diary, but also the contents. Ray sighed. How was he supposed to get on her good side if he was the one to threaten her? Why did he want to get in her good books? Shaking his head at his train of thought, he decided to pay attention to what the others were doing instead. Much as he tried to avoid it, his eyes kept straying to where Kia was relaxing in the sun. He found himself staring at her more than was acceptable, but he couldn't help himself. He just hoped the others wouldn't notice. He should have known better. While he was musing, the other bladers came up behind him. Tyson was always the first to notice things which smarter people would tactfully ignore, and this time was no exception. "Whatcha staring at Ray?" Ray tried to think fast, "I was just...um...uh..." Tyson's face curled into a smile and he gave Ray a knowing look. Shaking his head almost unconsciously, Ray said, "I was just thinking how different Kia became after turning into a girl. She might think that she's still the same, but she really has opened up a lot more." Emily suddenly piped up, "Well, it is a widely known fact that women are more emotional than men, so it's hardly surprising." The others all nodded slowly. Kia had always hidden things from the others, but now she tended to express her emotions much more freely. Ray was just glad that he had managed to successfully change the topic. Or so he thought. "Ray? You never answered my question, what were you staring at?" Ray squirmed in his seat, 'I'm going to kill you Tyson!' He thought calmly. With the part of his brain that was still functioning, he realised that the others were still waiting for him to answer. As the silence stretched out, help came from an unusual source. "How long are we still going to be here? We still have training to do!" Kia's voice broke the silence, and Ray was very thankful for her intervention. The breakers groaned, while the other bladers laughed. She was still as obsessed with making them train as she had been as a guy. Some things would never change.

After the bladers returned from their relaxation time at the pool, there was a message from Mr Dickenson. There would be a formal dinner for the teams at seven. At this news all of them quickly dispersed to their rooms to get ready. Kia literally had to be dragged to her room because she knew she would have to wear a dress. After a heated debate between Mariah and Emily (Kia had no say in the matter), they decided to deck Kia out in a glittering midnight blue dress that hugged her figure and flared softly around her ankles. There was also a slit up the left leg which reached her mid-thigh. The two girls were very pleased with their handiwork after adding jewellery. She wore a diamond necklace with matching earrings, bracelet, ring and anklet. The anklet peeped between the slit on her left leg when she walked. She looked stunning. She looked beautiful. She looked...like she was sulking. After making short work of her make-up and hair, the other two girls rushed into their clothes. After all the preparations were made, the three girls made their way downstairs. Mariah had decided on a pink dress which was an off-shoulder cut and a full skirt which reached her knees. Emily however, had chosen to go with a plain black satin evening dress, which hugged her figure all the way down. To Kia's surprise, all the guys were ready and waiting by the time they came down. "What took so long?" Tyson demanded, stopping short when he saw the three girls. His mouth started opening and closing like a goldfish on land. The girls were all stunning, but obviously Kia outshone the other two. In her finery, with her hair up in gentle curls which cascaded down her back, she looked like a goddess. The others were just as speechless when Mariah demanded to know who was going to be escorting who. The boys all started arguing with each other. Kia was getting angry. After ten minutes of bickering she snapped. "SHUT UP!" Everybody turned to watch her. "Listen, this is what we're gonna do. Lee can escort Mariah since they know each other so well, Kenny can escort Emily since they'll have plenty to talk about, and I'll go with Ray since he's the only one I can stomach right now. All right?" Kia looked around daring anybody to contradict her. The three chosen dutifully stepped forward while the others grumbled softly. Glaring at them she asked, "Does anybody here have a problem with this?" The others prudently stopped their grumbling. After all, they valued their safety. Having thus ended the quarrel they all marched outside towards the cars waiting to take them to the dinner.

Ray looked around. Contrary to what he had thought, he was actually enjoying himself. After Kia's little display of anger, he felt very happy. She had chosen HIM, out of all the bladers there. But thinking back, he was also the only one who hadn't joined the fighting. After arriving, Ray had felt slightly bewildered by the amount of death-glares he was getting from all the men in the room. After a while, he realised it was because of Kia. They were jealous. She had stuck by his side through the whole evening because she didn't feel like talking to the others. Ray was very happy about the arrangement too. After a while he had noticed her watching the dancers with a slightly envious expression. Taking advantage of that, he had asked her if she wanted to dance. Nobody actually knew, but she had always had an obsession with dancing. She had taken professional lessons and everything. While surprised at his thoughtfulness, she accepted his offer. She did really want to dance. As they moved onto the dance floor, Ray put his arm on her waist and they effortlessly started gliding to the music. After a while, the song ended. Kia sighed with disappointment. Seeing the emotion flicker on her face, he asked her if she wanted to go for another round. She blinked twice, thought and finally nodded. As they stood waiting for the next song, there was a slight bustle. To their great surprise, a slow love song started. Looking at each other, they had the same thought, 'Oh shit'. Eying Ray, Kia made up her mind. She moved forward in his arms, even closer than before. He was surprised, but his arms instinctively tightened around her, while her arms snaked around his neck. They swayed gracefully to the music, their movements matching each other perfectly. Soon the other people stopped dancing to watch the experts take the floor. They swung around, perfectly in tune to the music, while performing intricate movements with their feet. Mariah and Emily smirked, watching the couple. They had this planned from the start. They had rushed to the DJ to make a special request for this song. They had been plotting to get those two together since the pool episode.

Ray's POV:

I look into her eyes. Those crimson pools which I can get lost in. We sway gently moving as our bodies dictate. We no longer control our movements. It's as if our bodies have a life all their own. It feels like time is standing still. What is this feeling? Am I going crazy? Even if this is madness, there's only one thing I do know...this madness is bliss...

Kia's POV:

I've never felt like this before. I can feel myself dancing. I feel the movement, but it's as if something else is in control. I can only stand and watch. I'm lost in his golden eyes. They look like the sun, coming to brighten my life. I don't understand. What's wrong with me?

Normal POV:

As the music came to an end, there was a moment of silence before applause broke out. The two looked dazed. They hadn't even realised they had an audience. Embarrassed, the two made their way back to the others. After a while, Kia excused herself and walked onto the balcony that overlooked the gardens of Mr Dickenson's mansion. Ray frowned and followed her silently. Was something wrong? As he rounded a corner, he came face-to-face with her. He expected her to say something, to shout at him. Instead of that, she turned towards the gardens and started walking away. He took this as consent to join her, and they walked in a companionable silence. After a while, they came to a small lake. As she stared across the glossy surface, he snuck a look at her. Her skin looked even paler because of the moonlight. She looked vaguely troubled. "What's wrong?" He asked softly. She said nothing, just shrugged lightly. She turned away from him obviously intending to leave. He was amazed at how hurt he felt by that small rejection. Didn't she trust him at all? He reached out his hand to prevent her from leaving, grasping her arm tightly. She turned towards him, a questioning look in her eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't do it. She pulled her arm, trying to free herself from his grasp. They started a tug-of-war with her arm. She moved her right leg, trying to steady herself, and promptly tripped over a protruding tree root. Needless to say, she lost her balance. Ray chose that moment to tug her arm. The result was Kia tumbling head-long into his arms. The sudden movement caught him by surprise and he ended up on the ground on his back with her sprawled in his lap. Blinking a few times they realised that their faces were very close. In fact, the impact of the fall had caused them to lip-lock. She struggled quickly to get up, but realised that her foot was still caught. Looking around, she realised that if she moved, she would get hurt. If Ray tried to move from beneath her, she would get hurt. Unfortunately, this meant they would have to stay in that undignified position until somebody came to rescue them.

Jaheira1000: Hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to review on your way out!

Kia: What do you have to say first?

Jaheira1000: Please?

Kia: Very good!


	6. Chapter 6: Big Problems for Ray

Jaheira1000: Well, here it is people! I'm sorry it took so long, but my computer decided to get a virus. Thanx to everybody who reviewed!

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say it's not mine? It's like they're trying to rub it in!

"blah blah" Speaking Russian

CHAPTER SIX: Big Problems for Ray

Kia was in a very bad mood. It was two hours later, and they were still sprawled on the ground, waiting for help. An uncomfortable silence had prevailed after they managed to detach their faces. Ray blushed every time he looked at her and she sighed inwardly. 'Was it really that bad?' Little did she realise, that the young man below her was wondering the same. After a few more moments of silence he said, "I'm sorry. I should have just let you go if you wanted to." She shook her head slightly, "Don't worry 'bout it. I don't blame you. I'm the one who's trapping us both." Smiling slightly at her he felt relieved. The tension lifted and Ray was able to muster the courage to say what was on his mind. "Was it that bad?" Smiling slowly she answered, "Of course not. It was just a bit of a surprise." On these words, she snuggled up to his chest and fell asleep...

Ray could hardly believe it. He knew that Kia had opened up and become much more emotional since turning into a girl, but he never imagined her falling asleep in his arms looking like a complete angel. He slowly took deep breaths. He searched his mind for answers. Why was he having these types of thoughts about her? Why was he always thinking about her? Why was he holding her in his arms? After a long period of soul searching, he decided to give it up. He didn't have a clue why she inspired such thoughts. He might as well give up talking to himself. Ray's thoughts were interupted by a small delicate yawn, and a very kittenish stretch. Blinking a few times, Kia smiled up at him and asked, "Do you know what time it is?" Ray looked at the silver watch dangling from his wrist and gasped silently. It was midnight already! They had been sitting here for three full hours! Suddenly Kia's head jerked up. "Do you hear that?" She asked. Ray strained his ears and noticed the faint noise. It was voices, and they were getting closer! Ray called out to the voices, and they became louder. Eventually, Tala and Tyson appeared in front of them. Both boys froze in shock at the sight in front of them. Tala lifted an eyebrow, as if to say, 'What the hell?'. Tyson however, was not so subtle. "What are you doing?" Propping himself up on his elbow, Ray frowned and said, "What do you think we're doing Tyson? Kia tripped and got her foot caught in a tree root, she dragged me down with her when she fell. Neither of us can move, or we would break her ankle." Tyson just kept staring. Tala however, started to gently untangle Kia's ankle from it's prison. Having thus finished, he helped her stand. After stretching her stiff muscles, Kia shocked them all by practically jumping into Tala's lap, and giving him a kiss on the cheek. To their further astonishment, the russian boy's face flamed a red brighter than his hair. "Thanx Tal!" She stated smiling at him. Tala's face turned an even brighter red and he mumbled something in reply. Free from her uncomfortable position, Kia managed to drag all three boys back inside to enjoy the rest of the night...

After explaining their disappearance to the other teams, the fun continued. They all thoroughly enjoyed themselves, except for a certain neko-jin, who noticed that Kia had spent a lot of time in the company of that red-haired psycho-ehm...Tala. He had always known that Tala and Kai were like best friends, but he had hoped-ehm...thought that would change when she became a girl. Ray, the normally calm and sane member of the Breakers, was having wonderful visions of murder, death and destruction, and all of it centred around a certain red-haired russian. He was seriously starting to stress. He had been trying to think of reasons why he was feeling this way about her spending time with Tala, but the only reason which sounded plausible, was the one he refused to admit to. He was NOT in love with her, so he COULDN"T be jealous...could he? 'Give it up Ray, she'll never feel that way so stop torturing yourself.' He thought to himself. Making up his mind, he decided to stop thinking about her, and promptly returned to staring at her for the rest of the evening.

Kia was really enjoying herself. After the first few awkward moments of explaining where thay had been, everybody was able to relax. Kia felt slightly bad for ignoring her best friend for the whole evening, and decided to spend more time with him. Looking up at the older russian, she felt a surge of happiness. She had been half afraid that Tala would ignore her now that she was a girl, but they were still good friends. As the two friends chatted happily in russian, the talk turned to relationships. "So Tala, have you found yourself a girlfriend yet? I mean, everybody knows you've changed after the world championships and all." This statment was surprisingly accurate, since all of the Demolition Boys had managed to reclaim their original personalities. Tala's old personality was surprisingly bubbly. He was also a bit of a clutz, but Kia wouldn't have traded her Tala for anybody else. "Well, I must admit I haven't thought about that kind of thing a lot in the past, but as of late there is somebody I think I would like to ask out."  Kia looked ecstatic. "Who is it? Is she nice? Do I know her? You've just gotta tell me!"

"Umm, well..."

"Talaaa..."

"It's umm..."

"Come on!"

"Well uhh..."

"Spit it out already!"

"I'm not sure if she'll like me like that."

"Oh come on! You're a chick magnet! I'd be surprised if there's any girl out there who can resist you!"

"Weeell...she's not like other chicks."

"Oh come on! I used to be a guy and I can tell you're hot!" Kia flushed bright red as she realised what she had confided to him. She was only thankful that she had been speaking russian, so the only people who understood was herself and the Demo Boys. Tala was flushing an even brighter red than her, but that was because his team-mates were laughing at him. He tried glaring at them, but the effect was lost due to the blush. Tala cleared his throat, "Well, since that's the case...um...well...uh..."

"Don't tell me you're gonna start that again."

"No...it's just...uh...would you...um...like to...um...you know...uh...to...go out with me?" Kia looked at him in shock, her face flushing red again. This time, it was her turn to stutter. "Um...well...uh...well...uh..uh...ok!" Tala smiled brightly before wrapping his arm around her waist. The others were in shock, as were all the bladers who witnessed this moment. They obviously didn't understand the conversation, but Tala's possesive movement was universally understood. Mariah and Emily glanced at each other. This was definitely not what they were hoping for. Now they would have to break up Tala and Kia so that Ray could get together with her. They just knew that Kia and Ray would make the perfect couple. Looking around the crowded room, they noticed a certain neko-jin by his absence...

Ray was sitting next to the lake that he and Kia had visited earlier. When he saw Tala wrap his arm around Kia, he just couldn't take it anymore. He sat staring at the water, his eyes dark and life-less. He finally admitted it. He was in love with her. She had stolen his heart forever. Sighing, he scolded himself for not realising it sooner. He cared about her, more so than he had ever thought possible. He had been jealous when he saw Tala wrap his arm around her. Hearing a noise, he turned his head to see Mariah. "Hey Ray, how you feeling?" She asked softly, as she plopped down next to him. He just shrugged. "We knew." His eyes widened at this statement. It was said with no emotion. It was as if... "We know that you love her. Don't ask how. Girls can always tell." Ray sighed in defeat, "It doesn't matter. You saw it too. They way he put his arm around her. The way she looks at him. The way..." Mariah cut him off angrily. "When has that ever stopped you? When have you ever given up without a fight? Are you really just gonna give up?" Ray's eyes lit up. She was right! When did he become such a loser? When had he ever given up without a fight? That was one of the things Kia had always admired. His determination. She said so often. He would have to fight for what he wanted. Standing up, he smiled, "You're right Mariah, I can't just lay down and give up. After all, she is worth fighting for. I just hope it works." Mariah smiled at him. "I think we've moped about for long enough, after all, if you want her, you've got a lot of work ahead of you." He turned and helped her up, "Thanx Mariah, and I hope you manage to snag Lee too." Mariah flushed bright red. "You noticed?" He laughed at her embarassed face, "Yeah, but only 'cause he asked me to find out if you would go out with him." Mariah squeeled, hugged him, and ran back towards the party. Ray followed at a more leisurely pace, after all, he had to plan his strategy...

Jaheira1000: So, what did ya think? Let me know or no more chapters!

Ray: As if! You made me suffer!

Jaheira1000: .


	7. Chapter 7: Who's Coming?

Jaheira1000: Hey everybody. Sorry for taking so long to update, but I had to change all my personal details cause of a stalker. (Very creepy by the way) Anywho, here's the next update, and many thanx to all who reviewed. I love you all.

DISCLAIMER: It's not mine, it never has been and never will be. Are you satisfied now? sobs

Jaheira1000: P.S. I would just like to clear up one matter. Mariah and Lee aren't related at all in my fic.

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CHAPTER SEVEN: Who's Coming?

Meanwhile, Emily had edged over to the Demo Boys and Kia. She had her own reasons for wanting Kia to get together with Ray. She smiled at the red-headed reason named Tala. "What's all this guys? People will start getting ideas about you!" Tala looked at her with a radiant smile, "Well let them, 'cause I'm not ashamed of my girlfriend!" Emily was shocked. He'd asked her out already! And judging by his reaction, she hadn't turned him down! This was definitely gonna complicate matters. Kia was smiling dreamily at Tala, as if she was thrilled with life, which in fact she was. "Oh Kia, do you know where Ray went? He seems to be missing. You are still team captain aren't you? I just thought you might be worried about one of your team-mates." Emily flashed a forced smile. Kia narrowed her eyes at the other girl and nodded curtly at Emily. She turned and said something to Tala before pecking him on the cheek and walking outside.

Tala's POV:

I can't believe my luck! She actually said yes! I am definitely not gonna be able to sleep tonight! As I wrapped my arm around her, she leans against me slightly, and I notice the jealous glares I get from every other male present, but I don't care. She's mine! They can look, but just let them try to touch! Aw man, here comes Emily. Just when I was thinking I could spend some quality time with Kia. Why is she going on about Ray? It's so obvious he has a crush on her, but he was too slow. He'll just have to live with it, but Kia will go looking for him. She doesn't often show it, but she really cares about her team a lot. She turns toward me. "Tala, I really should go check on Ray, but be careful. Emily's up to something, and I don't trust her in this mood." My heart goes crazy when she reaches up to peck me on the cheek (I'm taller than her now). I watch her leave, her hair swaying behind her gracefully. Turning toward Emily, my smile dimms slightly. I didn't do it on purpose, but I can't help it. My thoughts are on the missing beauty...

Normal POV:

Emily smiles as Kia leaves the room. This was perfect! If she could only get those two to break up, she was sure that she could get Tala to ask her out instead. In truth, she had a serious crush on him ever since she saw him. Even though he had been evil then, she still loved him. She was a bit depressed to see his smile dimm a bit, and his attention wander. She decided to grin and bear it. Eventually she managed to get his attention long enough to start a conversation in which he was actually interested enough to pay attention.

Ray was stalking up to the house when he noticed somebody exiting the building. The shadow moved towards him and he noticed that it was Kia. As she hurried up to him, she asked him, "Are you okay? You seem to have left in a bit of a hurry. Is anything wrong?" Smiling he shook his head, "No, nothings wrong. I just needed some fresh air. Did I miss anything in there?" Kia was surprised, but she smiled and said, "Not much, but I'm very excited. Tala asked me out! What d'ya think?" Ray forced himself to smile again and say, "That's great!" All this time, he had been thinking of ways and means to make them break up voluntarily. "Come back inside Ray, it's almost time for the last song." As he let her lead him inside, Ray was struck by an inspiration. The Majestics! One of the best lady charmers in the world was on their team, and the others were almost as popular with the ladies. This idea was strengthened after seeing Kia share the last dance of the evening with her new boyfriend. The next morning, when the others collapsed in their beds at 4AM, Ray made a phone call...

The next morning, the only blader up before 11 was Kia, who woke up at 8, looking as if she had enjoyed a full nights sleep. The others managed to keep their eyes open after emptying three pots of coffee. The Breakers were all relaxing in their hotel room, when Mr Dickenson came for a visit. He had a surprise for them. After greeting them all he got right to the point. "I have a surprise for you all. I received a call from the Majestics this morning, and they'll be joining us here for a few weeks. They will be staying in the same hotel, and I managed to get them a room on this floor." Tyson and Max started whooping and glomping each other while Ray smiled widely, and Kia...Kia was not happy. "They're WHAT?" She yelled, effectively shutting up the rest of them. "What's wrong Kia? I thought you would be happy to see your old friends." She looked ready to blow, "Under normal circumstances, yes, but these are NOT normal circumstances!" They looked at each other confused. Suddenly, it hit them. They had gotten do used to Kia being a girl, they hadn't thought to explain to the Majestics about Kai becoming Kia! "Even so Kia, why should that bother you?" Kia looked ready to do Tyson physical harm, "The Majestics team contain Enrique, the biggest ladies man the earth has ever seen. The others are almost as bad. What do YOU think I'm upset about Tyson?" Mr Dickenson stepped into the breach, "I'm sure that if we just explain..." Kia cut him off by standing up and stalking out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Ray was feeling very guilty. He had told the Majestics that he was having problems with a girl he liked, but he hadn't thought to mention the fact that the girl was Kai-er-Kia. He sat back in his chair, and started discussing how to break the news to the Majestics about their captain.

In the meantime, Kia had stalked out of the building. She did however, remember to avoid dark alleys this time. She had no wish to repeat her last encounter. As she walked, she was barely paying attention to where she was going. She just kept walking. Why did all of these things happen to her? The thought of having to deal with all this now was just too much. She had been walking around for a few hours, when she noticed the time. It was already 6PM. The others would be getting worried. She swung around, intending to return to the hotel, when she found herself on the ground. She had walked into somebody else. Her hair had swung into her eyes, and she couldn't see a thing. She felt herself being helped up, and she swung her hair out of her face to come face-to-face with...Enrique! Fate must really hate her. As she dusted herself down, she noticed the rest of his team-mates. Enrique was gaping at her, and it was starting to irritate her a bit. She didn't look any different than any other girl, but guys were forever staring at her. Sighing. she asked him if he would get out of her way...

Enrique's POV:

I was having a very bad day. A call from Ray brought us all down to America to help a man in need. If there's one thing we Majestics believe in, it's helping someone in love. So anyway, we get here only to find ourselves lost, and now I've ploughed into somebody who turned around too fast. Here however, is where my day got much better. I seem to have knocked down a young lady, and as she swing her two-toned hair out of her face, I see two beautiful crimson eye's looking at me. I've seen a lot of girls before, believe me, but never with such unusual colouring. I've only ever seen one person with that colouring coupled with the pale skin, and that was a guy. The captain of Ray's team, Kai. Maybe they're related. Back to my earlier observation, I spy a gorgeous pair of legs peeping out from beneath a grey mini-skirt. She also appears to be wearing a blue tank top and blue knee length boots. She's wearing a chunky silver choker and matching bracelet. The effect is stunning, and I can't believe my luck. As she asks me to move out of her way, I decide to turn up the charm. "Do you possibly know where we can find the Fairview Hotel?" (AN: Sorry 'bout the pathetic name, but I didn't know what else to call it :P) I say in my smoothest voice. She gives me a strange look and nods. I smile even wider as she motions for us to follow her. I walk next to her, "So, what's your name?" She glances at him through the corner of her eye and answers, "Kia" Unusual, maybe she really IS related to Kai. "So, do you live her, or are you just visiting?"

"Visiting"

"Well, are you staying long?"

"Don't know"

"Wanna go for a drink somewhere?"

"No"

"A movie?"

"No"

"I know! No girl can resist a shopping spree!" I'm amazed to see her face shrink in horror, "NO!" How can she say no to everything I propose? Am I losing my touch? I wonder why she freaked at the thought of a shopping spree. She looks like an unusual challenge. Well I'll meet this challenge head-on. I'll need something to do while helping Ray with his problem.

Normal POV:

Kia cringed as her fear was realised. Enrique was trying to charm her. The others were also trying their level best to charm the beauty, but Enrique was dominating her attention. As they neared the Fairview, Kia slowed her paced unnoticeably. She would have to get them in without her joining them, otherwise the Breakers would let their tongues run away with. Shrugging, she realised that the Majestics would find out eventually, so it wouldn't matter anyway. As the Majestics turned towards the reception desk, they noticed Kia walking toward the elevator. Shrugging, they decided to follow her instead. As they joined her in the elevator, she pressed the button for the right floor. As they stepped of the elevator, they were amazed when she walked up to one of the doors, and pulled out the key. Mr Dickenson had given her a copy of the keys for all the teams' rooms. He had felt she would be the most responsible. She had decided to take them directly to the Breaker's room. As they stepped into the room, the Majestics were amazed to see the Blade Breakers glomping Kia. How did she know THEM? She turned to them and said, "Welcome Majestics, Mr Dickenson told us you would be coming today, but we were only expecting you much later, which is why I was roaming around. It's just as well I was roaming around, or you WOULD only have gotten here tonight." By now the poor Majestics were really confused. Johnny was the first to pipe up, "Where's your team captain, and who is the chick?" They were not prepared for the reaction these words provoked. Ray slapped his hand to his forehead, Tyson and Max dove behind the sofa, and Kenny started backing away fast. Kia had anime veins popping up all over. Grabbing the nearest thing to her hands, which was a pretty vase standing on a side-table, she hurled it at Johnny's head. Luckily, the hapless scotsman managed to duck, while Ray restrained the angry girl. "What did I say?" He asked in shock. After calming Kia down, Ray explained, "She hates being called a chick. The last person who did was one of the hotel valet's, and he ended up with a few broken ribs." The Majestics goggled. Oliver finally piped up, "So...um...why are you so sensitive about that?" The Breakers started looking uncomfortable, while Kia stood fuming. Ray sighed, "Well, that can be answered by your earlier questions." Ray saw them looking confused and explained, "You asked where Kai is, then you asked who...erm...Kia was." Nodding, the European bladers were still slightly confused, until Ray finished the explanation. "Kia IS Kai." The Majestics jaw-dropped. Staring at Kia, they started picking up the similarities in appearance and attitude. Robert finally broke the silence, "What on earth happened?" Taking a deep breath, Kenny started explaining what had happened right from the beginning...

After having the entire situation explained to them, the Majestics understood the reason they were called out. Judging by the way Ray looked at Kia, she was the one he was interested. As if that wasn't bad enough though, they had also explained about Tala asking her out. Looking at Ray then Enrique, Robert asked him a silent question, and was answered with an almost invisible nod. Groaning inwardly, he knew the next few weeks would undoubtedly be very interesting.

The Majestics had made themselves comfortable in their new room. After finishing their unpacking, they went to rejoin the Breakers in their room. Robert groaned inwardly when he saw the look on Ray's face when a certain blond member of Roberts team sta themselves next to Kia. As he watched them, he realised that Enrique was most likely love-struck. The reason for this was simple. Girls tended to throw themselves at him because he was rich. Kia didn't immediately throw herself into his arms, so she was a challenge. He was obviously forgetting that helping Ray was the only reason they had come in the first place. Kia was pretty much still keeping to her touch-me-and-you-die attitude that she had adopted since they arrived. Even her death-glare however, was not enough to stave off Enrique. Kia was also confused by Ray's reactions to things she said and did. Also, whenever somebody mentioned Tala's name, he either broke whatever he was holding, left the room suddenly, or started to mumble darkly about evil read-heads. I think something happened between those two. Maybe they had a fight or something. Shrugging it off lightly, she realised that she had been spacing out for at least twenty minutes, and Enrique was still valiantly trying to chat her up. Stupid boy. He had a thicker skin than Tyson. Sighing, she stood up, interupting Enrique mid-sentence. She needed some space, and the weird looks she was getting from everybody else in the room wasn't helping. She felt caged. The rest of her team didn't want her going out on her own anymore. They kept saying she could get attacked, or harrased. The latter was more likely though considering her new looks. She was quite proud of the fact that she was considered a bit pretty (AN: Modest isn't she). She decided to give Tala a call and ask him if he wanted to go out. She looked up as Tyson asked where she was going. "I'm gonna phone Tala and ask him if he wants to go out or something. Do you mind?' Glaring at Tyson. Hearing a glass shatter from behind her, she added, "After I get bandages for Ray's hand." Sure enough, a fuming Ray sat gripping the remains of his glass, juice running over his hand. Mumbling darkly, Ray left the room directly behind Kia. After washing his hand carefully, she proceeded to remove all the shards of glass from his hand, and bandaging the cuts. She worked in silence, but he could tell there was something on his mind. Looking up, she was surprised to see a sad look on his face. He looked like his favourite pet had died or something. Seeing him so sad made her chest tighten painfully. She hated seeing Ray so upset. What made it even worse was the fact that this time, she didn't even know what was upsetting him. Looking her in the eye, Ray saw sadness shimmer there for a moment. "What's wrong?" He asked quietly, not really expecting an answer. He really didn't like seeing her upset. Slightly surprised, she answered, "I'm not upset. I just...I...well...I don't like seeing you so upset. It kinda makes me feel like it's my fault that you're upset. I hate not knowing what's wrong." Smiling softly, Ray said, "Don't worry. I'm not upset. I suppose I'm just brooding unneccesarily. I keep thinking about something I can't have, but I can't help it. I don't know if it's the right thing to do or not. I don't know. Maybe I should just stop chasing a dream." Kia suddenly looked very sternly at Ray and burst out, "What's wrong with you? When have you, Ray Kon, ever given up on something because everybody else says it's impossible. If that were the case, how the hell do you explain the fact that we won the world championships? How would WE of all people have ended up in a team together. How would we have gotten Tyson out of bed in the mornings? These things didn't just miraculously happen. We made them happen. How? We didn't give up. Now that I've said all that, I would just like to add that if you ever give up again or even think about wallowing in self pity ever again, I will pound you into the ground. Is that understood?" Shel-shocked by what he had just heard, Ray smiled slightly. Kia had just indirectly told him not to stop trying to get her. The irony of that situation just struck him as very funny. Kia watched as Ray had some sort of inner struggle with himself before one side suddenly seemed to win. Smiling slightly, Ray thanked her. He HAD been wallowing in self-pity. Realising how long they had been in here together, he suggested that they get back to the others.

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Jaheira1000: How was that? Good or bad? I won't know unless you tell me.


	8. Chapter 8: Revelations

Jaheira1000: I'm back! You probably thought I was giving up on this fic right? Well I'm glad I can prove you wrong. I just had a few new ideas that I had to get down. I'm currently working on about five different fics at once.

Disclaimer: It's like they're trying to rub it in our faces. It's not mine already!

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CHAPTER EIGHT: REVELATIONS

After their little session alone, relations between Kia and Ray improved while those between Ray and Tala deteriorated. That Tala was getting jealous of the amount of time they spent together, was obvious. He just refused to admit it. Kia meanwhile, was in a quandary. She had agreed to go out with Tala, but was finding herself increasingly attracted to Ray. This was confusing the poor girl since the feelings she had towards the two were entirely different. She loved them both, just not in the same way. She, however, did not realize this because, as was mentioned many many times before, she wasn't exactly very good with emotions. She couldn't distinguish between the two types of love, and so had decided to go out with whichever one managed to ask her first, which happened to be Tala.

So that's were she was now, and boy was it confusing. She had a date with Tala that evening. They had decided to go clubbing. After deciding on a decent outfit, Kia had nothing to do. She had given the rest of team the day off training, and was currently attempting to hide from Enrique who was becoming much too persistant for her liking. She had retreated to the roof of the hotel for a bit of silence. She hadn't gotten much sleep that evening as a result of too much stress. The situation with Ray and Tala was taking it's toll on her. She closed her eyes, deciding to take a nap right where she was. After a few minutes she was fell into a deep slumber.

While she was there, the rest of the team was watching television, while the demo boys were doing goodness knows what. Ray had been trying to think up a truly brilliant way to get Kia to date him. So far, he was only drawing blanks. He decided to go for a walk. After a few hours he returned to find the two teams in chaos. According to the little scraps he was able to decipher from the shouting, Kia had gone missing. Tala especially was going crazy. Apparently they had arranged to go on a date, but she was nowhere to be found. After calming the others down enough to get an explanation, Ray nearly started panicing. He got them all together and had them search through the hotel one floor at a time until they had systematically worked their way through the whole hotel. He was about to check the roof as a last resort when his way was barred by none other than Tala. He sneered at the tall chinese boy before snarling.

"Now what genius? Any other bright idea's?"

"Tala, I think..."

"What are we supposed to do now? Don't you even care that she might be hurt somewhere? You just act that way so no-one suspects you."

"Tala, listen..."

"No! You listen! I've seen how you act around her. You just want her for yourself. Why don't you do us all a fovour and go jump off a bridge?" By this time, Ray was getting very upset. Of course he was worried and upset and all that, but running around screaming like a psycho wasn't going to help Kia. The best thing for her was someone who could take charge and actually do something about finding her. Those were his feelings in the matter, and he wasted no time in informing Tala of that. After letting him blow off his steam, Tala tried to interupt, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Ray's fist made contact with his face. The others all watched in shock as Tala toppled to the ground. They couldn't believe what they were seeing when Ray downed Tala. As he struggled to his feet, they were surprised to see him smiling. Tala had suddenly realized something and was feeling down about his decision, but he knew it was for the best. 'It was probably just a stupid crush anyway' He thought.

"If you had taken any longer about it I would have given you the same treatment." Tala lied, smirking. By now, everybody was beyond confused. Tala enlightened them, the smirk never leaving his face. As he spoke, he realized the truth in his own words. He had know all along that he wasn't really in love with Kia, but he had always been one to make sure about something first. He had fallen for her looks and nothing more. She was like a younger sister to him, and he wasn't into incest.

"I only asked Kia out so that she could sort out what she felt about you, and to find out if you were good enough for her." Ray was furious.

"What the hell gives you the right to test me on her behalf?" The smirk vanished and was replaced by a faintly menacing look.

"Listen kitty-cat, we grew up together. I have seen that poor girl being torn apart day in and day out. Even though she was a guy at the time doesn't make any difference. Emotional pain doesn't discriminate. Me and the other Demo Boyz are like her brothers, and no matter what, we will always look after her. And if we can't, we'll make sure there's someone around who can." All this took a moment to sink in, but once it did Ray grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry about hitting you earlier. If I had known you were trying to help, I wouldn't have hit so hard."

"Oh, so you would still have hit me?" Rei gave an evil smile.

"Of course! It's not every day I get the chance to floor the captain of the Demolition Boyz without dire consequences." The rest of them laughed, and the tension was broken.

"All joking aside Tala, where did she go." Tala's face begame grave again.

"I don't know. Even though it helped our cause, I still don't know where she is." Suddenly it occured to Ray that he still hadn't checked the roof of the hotel. Mentioning this to Tala, the two boys decided to go together. As they made their way up, they discussed Kia.

"Hey Tala, what do you think is gonna happen when you break up with her?"

"Well, I think she'll be relieved."

"Relieved?"

"Yeah. I could tell that she beginning to get uncomfortable with the whole relationship thing. I think that after the novelty of it wore off, she realized she had picked the wrong guy. Everyone could see it but her."

"I hope you're right Tala. I really do." With that, they reached the roof and were suprised at what they saw. Kia was lying asleep on the roof, but that wasn't what was bothering them. The strange thing was that Mariah and Emily were also there, and they were quite obviously up to something. Hearing the two boys approach, the two girls straightened up from their crouched positions before running off. Ray looked at Tala and stated.

"Well that was weird."

"Yeah, no kidding." Tala shook his head absently. Making their way over to the sleeping girl, they noticed an envelope clenched in her fist. Leaning down, Tala tried to extract it silently, but the movement caused her to wake up. Her fist closed on the envelope instinctively as she looked around dazedly. Yawning widely, she asked.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ray snickered slightly.

"When you didn't show up for your date with Tala, we naturally began searching for you. The others thought you were kidnapped." She chuckled slightly before noticeing the envelope in her hand. Seeing how Tala's hand was clenched over hers, it looked like he had given her the letter. She opened the envelope, sliding out a letter. The two boys watched her face as she read the letter. Seeing the emotions flickering across her face, Ray was worried.

"What does it say?" He was amazed when she just ignored him, glaring at Tala before crumpling the letter and throwing it at the surprised red-head. After she had the satisfaction of seeing it bounce off his forehead, she shot up and ran into the hotel. Looking over at the equally stunned neko-jin Tala asked.

"What just happened?"

"I have no idea." Seeing the discarded letter, Ray hastily picked it up and smoothed it out. His eyes widened at what he read there.

"Tala?"

"What's wrong Ray?"

"You might wanna read this." After handing Tala the letter, Ray counted to thirty before blocking his ears. He was not a moment too soon as Tala's voice exploded with a fury wirthy of his red hair.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

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Jaheira1000: Ohhhhhhh, a cliffy! What did the letter say? Tune in next time to find out! (Sorry it was so short. The next chapter will be much longer)

P.S. Please leave a review on your way out.


	9. Chapter 9: The Letter

Jaheira1000: OMG! I am soooooo sorry mina! I didn't realize how long it's been since I updated this fic. This story has nearly come to its end, so I hope you'll be sticking around for the finale!

Disclaimer: Not mine. Never has been never will be.

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CHAPTER NINE: THE LETTER

Ray winced at the fury he saw on the red-heads face. He hastily thought it was time to intervene.

"Maybe this was some kind of mis…under…standing…" Ray's voice died in his throat at the look on Tala's face. It clearly said 'WHO are you trying to kid?' Tala looked down at the letter again and read it a second time as if to see if what he had read was still there.

_Kia_

_You might be wondering why I decided to write you this letter. _

_The truth is that I decided to put an end to this game. Bryan and I had a bet going about how long it would take to get you to fall in love with me. _

_Since I finally managed to get this done, there's no reason for me to string you along any longer. I felt it was a pity I had to stop before I got you into bed, but I don't want a female hanging around my neck. _

_I don't want to tell you this to your face because I really don't think you deserve even that. Better luck next time._

_Tala_

They were disgusted, but had no idea who would try something this low. Both boys quickly thought about the situation before coming to the same conclusion. They voiced their suspicion at the same moment.

"Mariah and Emily!" They looked at each other. The now realized the cause of the problem, but what they had to try and figure out now was how to repair the situation.

A little revenge also wouldn't come amiss.

The two sat down with their heads together, plotting of ways to get the two girls to confess…

After about two hours, Tala and Ray had figured out boy why the two girls were doing this and how to get them to confess. Once they reviewed the events of the past few days they had managed to figure it out. Mariah was trying to help Ray, while Emily was trying to get Tala for herself.

Personally Tala was kinda grossed out by this revelation, but managed to restrain himself from thinking too much about it. While Mariah's reasons were reasonable, it was still no excuse for interfering, while Emily's reasons were purely selfish.

They had decided that Ray would talk to Emily and Tala would talk to Mariah. After their plans were made they left to get everything ready…

That evening, Tala made his way over to the White Tigers lodging. He asked to speak to Mariah. When she saw who was looking for her, she paled slightly and stammered slightly when she asked what he wanted.

"I just want to talk to you. Don't worry, it's nothing bad. I just thought you might not want to talk with your whole team around."

"Um…well…I don't suppose it'll be a problem. Where do you want to go?" Tala smirked inwardly.

"Let's just go for a walk. Or maybe one of the conference rooms." Mariah nodded her agreement and they made their way towards one of the unused conference rooms…

Meanwhile, Ray was talking to Emily while suggesting the same thing. After showing her consent, they made their way to the conference rooms where, unknowingly to the two girls, the other two were headed.

They all arrived at the same time. While the two girls stared at each other in shock, the two boys closed and locked the doors, silently slipping the keys into their pockets.

They smirked at each other and turned to face the two conspirators. The guilty party looked at each other apprehensively. Ray opened the conversation.

"You're both probably wondering why we brought you here. First of all we would like to say that we know what you two did. We saw the letter you gave to Kia, and we also saw the contents." The two girls looked at them fearfully. Tala smirked inwardly and forced his face into a kind look.

"Don't worry; we're not blaming you or anything. We just wanted to bring you here so we could thank you properly for helping." Mariah eyed him warily.

"Thank us for what?" Ray also faked a kind look.

"Well, now that Kia and Tala broke up I can ask her out."

"Yeah, and I was gonna break up with her anyway so you guys saved me some trouble." Emily broke in happily here.

"Of course! We could see that neither of you wanted things as they were and we tried to help. I was the one who wrote the letter. Mariah didn't really want to do it, but I knew it was for the best." Emily was wearing a bright smile, but Mariah was frowning. Ray frowned slightly and directed a question at her.

"Mariah…did you even read what was written in the letter?" She shook her head slightly.

"No. I did ask Emily what it said, but all she said was that it was a way to make everybody happy." The two boys glanced at each other. They could see that Mariah was being sincere, so they couldn't really blame her.

From what they could tell, Emily had been using Mariah to get what she wanted. They both turned to face the carrot-top as she started talking again.

"Of course all this was my idea! I thought you would appreciate it!" Both boys dropped their smiling faces at the same time. Ray's amber eyes flickered with anger.

"Did it ever occur to you to just leave things alone and not stick your nose into other peoples business? How do you think she felt when she read that letter?" Emily backed up quickly seeing the rage in Ray's eyes and turned desperately to Tala only to see the anger in his eyes.

"Did you really think that by breaking me up with Kia was going to get me to ask you out? All you've managed to do here was turning my best friend against me! If you think that's going to endear you to me, you are sadly mistaken. I don't know how you planned to get away with this, but at least now we'll be able to fix things." Both girls looked up simultaneously. Emily frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"What he means you red-haired freak, is that we've recorded this entire conversation!" Both girls paled considerably. That's why they had been taken here! Emily lowered her head in defeat, but Mariah lifted her head bravely.

"I'll take the tape to her myself." Both boys looked at her in disbelief. Ray snapped impatiently.

"Why would YOU do that now?"

"Because Ray…I feel I owe her an apology. Even though the letter was Emily's idea, I never should have gone along with it. Beside, with the mood Kia's in right now, I doubt either of you would be able to get within ten feet of her." They looked at each other, ruefully admitting the truth in her words.

They also knew that she meant what she had said. She would never have gone along with it if she had known the contents of that letter.

They did however make a copy of the tape…just in case.

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Jaheira1000: There you go my peeps! I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it was so short, but I didn't want to do the part where she forgives them too soon. . Ja ne:P


	10. Chapter 10: Forgive and Revenge

Jaheira1000: Here you go peeps. Sorry it took so long to get it up…I lost internet access. Gomen! Anyway…I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I wish…

**Dedication: This Chapter is dedicated to KaiLover2006, Lioku and Demoness-MarlstonWells69ner. Thanx 4 getting me off my behind guys!!!**

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CHAPTER TEN: Forgive and Revenge

Mariah's resolve was severely tested on the walk to Kia's room. She felt quite a few impulses to destroy the tape she held, but she quickly squashed them.

She couldn't back out now, or she would never be able to look her friends in the face ever again.

She came to a slow stop in front of Kia's room, but furrowed her brow when she heard sounds from the other side of the door. It sounded like…someone crying. Her eyes widened with the realization.

Kia was crying.

Mariah felt very low as she raised her hand to knock. She waited for a few moments as she heard the sound of somebody sniffling, as if trying to contain their emotions. After a few more moments the door opened slowly and Kia poked her head out.

"Hey Mariah. What's up?" Mariah took note of Kia's eyes which seemed to be slightly redder than they usually were before answering.

"Oh, um…well you see…can we talk inside?" Kia nodded silently before opening the door for Mariah to enter. They walked over to the bed and plonked down on the bed.

"Better?" Mariah looked into the other girls eyes before quickly looking down again.

"Yeah, thanks." There was a while of silence before Kia decided to start the conversation.

She wasn't really in the mood for conversation. All she really wanted was for Mariah to say whatever was on her mind, so that she could go back to crying and feeling sorry for herself. It sounded petty, even to herself, but she realized that a good cry made her feel a bit better, though not by much.

Every little bit helps right?

"What did you want to talk about?" Silence was her only answer so she prodded Mariah with a finger.

"Mariah?"

Nothing.

"Mariah?"

Nope.

"Mariah?!?"

Nada.

"Mariah!"

Kia's frustrated shout finally shook Mariah out of her silence, and she hesitantly tried to explain herself.

'Oh…sorry Kia. I just…I…well…" Kia was starting to get very freaked out by know. Mariah never stuttered like this. She also never wore this look of self-loathing and apology.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Mariah…what happened?" The pink-haired girl raised tear-filled eyes to her friend.

"Well, you know that letter…the one you got from Tala?" Kia's head shot up and her eyes narrowed.

"Yes…but how do you know about that?" Mariah was suddenly finding a piece of lint on the carpet very fascinating.

"Well, you see…Tala…didn't write that letter. Emily did." Kia was shocked. What exactly was going on? She voiced her confusion openly.

"But why would Emily do that to me? What did I ever do to her?"

"Well, Emily was jealous because you were dating Tala. She's liked him ever since the first time she saw him, so she saw you as an obstacle. She wanted you to break up with Tala so that she could date him." Kia's brow suddenly furrowed.

"Wait a minute. If Emily wrote it, then how do you know all this?"

"…" Mariah couldn't bring herself to answer. She just stood there and brought her hands to the front before handing Kia the tape recording.

"Listen to this. Everything should be much clearer after that." With these last words, Mariah ran from the room which contained a shocked and concerned Kia.

Kia slowly fingered the tape she was holding before firming her resolve. There were just too many questions floating around unanswered, but she shrugged it off.

Maybe this tape would provide some answers to the million and one questions running through her head. She inserted the tape into the player and pressed 'play'. As she sat listening to the tape, her emotions varied from surprise to shock to anger and resentment.

After reaching the end of the tape, there was a click as the player stopped. Kia didn't even notice as she was too busy sorting out the priorities in her head.

Deciding that her first priority was set Mariah's mind at ease she strode out of her room purposefully. She had a few things to do.

First she would have to reassure Mariah, since the pink-haired girl was blaming herself even though she didn't really do anything wrong.

The second thing she would be doing was having a serious discussion with Tala about what had happened as well as to congratulate him on his fantastic idea about getting evidence. She would also probably enlist his help to find something really nasty to do to Emily. The two of them had always been the best of pranksters.

Lastly and most importantly, she would be having a VERY long discussion with Ray. She blushed as she thought about the last one. Maybe the two of them just might…

She shook her head forcefully. She couldn't think about things like that just yet. With her goals now firmly set in her mind, she set out in search of Mariah. She found the other girl in the baths, and promptly decided to join her. She could use a good bath.

As she entered the baths she could see silent tears running down the other girls face. She sat down behind Mariah and looped her arms around her from behind in a loose hug. Mariah's head jerked up and her eyes widened as she saw who it was. The first thought running through her head, strangely enough, was that Kia was finally taking a bath with other women present.

This strange thought however, was chased away by the realization that Kia was most likely forgiving her. She knew it, felt it, and demanded verbal confirmation.

"So…does this mean you forgive me?" Kia smiled at her lightly.

"No. You didn't do anything that needs to be forgiven. All you did was try to help everybody, but I think you should be a little more careful about who you trust. If this had all happened to somebody else the results could have been much worse, and Emily could have pinned it all on you if it wasn't for Tala." Mariah's face brightened.

"Yeah. Thanks Kia!"

"No prob! Now pleeeeaaase help me wash my back. It's itching like you wouldn't believe!" Mariah laughed as she turned to help Kia. The sounds of laughter could be heard constantly from their side of the baths...

Ray was walking silently down the hallway towards his room. Ever since that incident in the conference room he had been wondering if Kia would even be willing to speak to him.

He really hoped she wasn't in a bad mood. Deciding that it would be counter-productive for him to sit in room and brood, he decided to go for a bath.

On his way there he walked past the women's bath and was surprised to see both Kia and Mariah emerge from inside, both obviously having just finished bathing. His first thought was the same one that originally went through Mariah's head. Kia was finally bathing with other women.

After that however, his mind snapped into focus as he saw the two girls turning away from him, obviously trying to head away before he decided to speak to them.

The though that Kia might for some reason be upset with him crossed his mind. But why was she being so friendly with Mariah? The two girls had looped their arms together as they were walking as if they were best friends. Shaking his head, Ray continued on towards the men's bath…

Kia slowly let out her breath. She was so relieved that Ray hadn't stopped to talk. She wasn't quite ready to face him yet. She still had to talk to Tala first about the letter and 'Operation Humiliate Emily', but that too could wait a while.

She and Mariah had decided to go shopping for a while as a way to seal their new friendship. Surprisingly, Kia had found that she actually enjoyed shopping now that she understood the finer points of it. So it was that the girls left arm-in-arm, happily planning a stress free day…

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Jaheira1000: There you go my peeps. I can feel this story coming to a close. I think it'll only be another chapter or two long so remember to R&R! More reviews means faster updates!


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